Dan Vandal 'just blown away' by win in Saint Boniface-Saint Vital
Former Winnipeg city councillor wins riding
Dan Vandal says he is "just blown away" after learning he has been elected in Winnipeg's Saint Boniface-Saint Vital riding and will join a Liberal majority government.
With all 198 polls reporting, the former Winnipeg city councillor captured 58.4 per cent of the vote, followed by 28.7 per cent for François Catellier of the Conservatives.
"I'm just blown away. It's a great, great wave. It's a red wave," Vandal told reporters as he was greeted by cheering supporters at this campaign headquarters on Monday night.
"I feel really fortunate to be on the ground for something extraordinary."
NDP candidate Erin Selby, a former provincial cabinet minister, came in third place with 10.6 per cent of the vote, while Glenn Zaretski of the Green Party had 2.3 per cent.
"I felt he would very likely lead, but by how much I didn't know, because I felt Erin was a strong and credible candidate," said Constance Menzies, who worked on Vandal's campaign, as the Liberals won Atlantic Canada.
"But seeing that trend sweeping eastern Canada, likely that will be reflected in Saint Boniface-Saint Vital as well."
Big smiles as CBC declares <a href="https://twitter.com/stbdan">@stbdan</a> elected <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/cbcmb?src=hash">#cbcmb</a> <a href="https://t.co/Gj0gDOr674">pic.twitter.com/Gj0gDOr674</a>
—@KatieNicholsonA huge applause from supporters as Francois Catellier arrives at his HQ in St.Boniface-St.Vital. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/cbcmb?src=hash">#cbcmb</a> <a href="https://t.co/3sqxmodTKU">pic.twitter.com/3sqxmodTKU</a>
—@NellyonCBCThe riding was the first in Winnipeg to report election results after polls closed across the province at 8:30 p.m. CT.
Saint Boniface-Saint Vital stretches across Winnipeg's southeast through old French neighbourhoods out to new suburbs that were barely there in the last federal election in 2011. It includes the riding formerly known as Saint Boniface.
The old Saint Boniface riding was held by the Liberals until 2008, when Conservative Shelly Glover unseated incumbent Raymond Simard with over 46 per cent of the vote.
Glover kept her seat in 2011, securing 50 per cent of the vote versus Simard's 31 per cent. New Democrat Patrice Miniely secured 16 per cent of the vote that year, followed by Marc Payette of the Green Party with three per cent.
With Glover announcing that she would not seek re-election, four people vied to capture the new riding. Read more about the Saint Boniface-Saint Vital candidates here.